London, UK – 10th June 2013 – Real Wireless, the expert and independent wireless communications specialist, today announced that three of its experts were honoured at the Small Cell Industry Awards 2013, highlighting the company’s position as the foremost international advisor on small cell technology and strategy. Professor Simon Saunders, Co-Founder and Director-Technology, received an award for ‘Innovation Leadership’, and fellow Real Wireless associates Julius Robson and Rupert Baines were honoured with the ‘Chairman’s Award’ and ‘Individual Contribution to Small Cell Forum Activities’ categories respectively.

Simon Saunders served as the Small Cell Forum’s founding Chairman from 2007 until September 2012 and this award celebrates his endeavours to unite the nascent small cell industry and shape it in to the cornerstone of cellular telecoms it is today. Julius Robson received his award representing CBNL for his part in delivering one of the most popular documents of the Small Cell Forum’s Release One, the Backhaul Whitepaper and his continued efforts as a driving force in the Forum’s Release Steering Committee. Technology marketing and strategy specialist Rupert Baines, formerly of Mindspeed and Picochip, received his award for his work as the Founding Chairman of the Forum’s Marketing Working Group. Rupert is well known for many achievements in the small cell space, including coining the term “femtocell”.

"When I was first approached to Chair the Small Cell Forum in 2007, small cells and the ecosystem surrounding it was disruptive with great potential, but required greater cooperation to bring it to the attention of the operator community,” said Simon Saunders, Co-Founder and Director-Technology, Real Wireless. “It fills me with great pride and delight to see how far we’ve come in just six years from a Femto Forum of seven members and no deployments, to a Small Cell Forum with 150 members and millions of small cells deployed by major operators around the world. I would like to thank the Small Cell Forum for this award and congratulate both Julius and Rupert on their accolades. Real Wireless will take pleasure in continuing to help the industry fulfil the potential I saw in it all that time ago.”

 “The key ingredient to the Forum’s success and indeed that of the wider small cell industry is the Forum’s Founding Chairman, Professor Simon Saunders. Back in 2007 there were numerous different approaches to femtocell network design and not a standard in sight. Worse still, operators were highly dubious of this upstart technology. Today, standardized small cell networks abound and the world’s operator community is agreed that the technology is central to the industry’s future. Simon was the central figure in this transformation and the industry undoubtedly owes him a great debt,” said Gordon Mansfield, Chairman of the Small Cell Forum.

Simon is an independent specialist in the technology of wireless communications, with a technical and commercial background derived from senior appointments in both industry (including Philips and Motorola) and academia (University of Surrey). He previously served as the Small Cell Forum (formerly Femto Forum) Founding Chairman for five years before stepping down in September 2012.

The awards were open to the whole industry and are judged independently of the Small Cell Forum by a panel of distinguished analysts, journalists and industry experts, chaired by Caroline Gabriel, Research Director, Maravedis Rethink. The Innovation Leadership Award was judged by the incumbent Small Cell Forum Chairman, Gordon Mansfield.

For more information on the Small Cell Forum Industry Awards 2013, please visit: http://www.smallcellforum.org/awards/